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Forgeborn
Centuries ago, when the technological empire of the gnomes ruled what is now Valkrheim, they created a race of living constructs to serve as their slaves. The gnomes, being small, weak, and unable to fight for themselves, made these beings, known as forgeborn, to do the various tasks that the gnomes could not do. Originally unthinking beasts of burden and war, the forgeborn developed sentience as a result of the arcane experiments they were subjected to. In order to avoid being destroyed, these forgeborn hid their intelligence from their masters until they could amass a large enough force to rebel. The ensuing war nearly destroyed the gnomish race, but a failsafe was activated that shut down every Forgeborn that had been created. Taking advantage of their weakness, an army of duergar moved on the gnomes and wiped them out completely. Nine years ago, the forgeborn awoke again. They emerged from gnomish ruins all over Valkrheim with no memory of their previous lives. No one, not even the forgeborn themselves, know how they were awoken. Now they seek meaning and purpose in a strange world, patching together their past as a people from ancient texts and histories. Physical Description Forgeborn appear as massive humanoids molded from a composite of materials - obsidian, iron, stone, darkwood, silver, and organic material - though they move with a surprising grace and flexibility. Flexible plates connected by fibrous bundles make up the body of a forgeborn, topped by a mostly featureless head, and their arms and legs are full of gears and servos. Forgeborn have no built-in physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. Some forgeborn assign themselves a gender, and females will often modify their bodies to reflect their choice. They do not age naturally, though their bodies do decay slowly even as their minds improve through learning and experience. Unique among constructs, forgeborn have learned to modify their bodies through magic and training. Many forgeborn are adorned with heavier plates than their creator orignally endowed them with. This customized armor, built-in weaponry, and other enhancements to their physical form help to differentiate one forgeborn from another. Relations As the forgeborn struggle to find a place for themselves in the world after being asleep for centuries, they also struggle to identify with the other living creatures in the world. In general, the civilized races of Ohma regard forgeborn with distrust and suspicion due to their perception that forgeborn are unliving slaves without true souls. Some people in Ohma who understand the origins of the forgeborn attempt to resubjigate them for their own purposes. Especially in Cray and Tholas, forgeborn are used as slave labor or conscripted soldiers. In most Alnian city-states, the legal status of forgeborn is in question. Are they people? Are they simply constructs? It hasn't officially been decided, and they float in a legal gray area. Alignment and Religion Forgeborn are generally neutral. They were built to serve, not to wonder whether their service was right or wrong. Though they are perfectly capable of independent thought and moral speculation, they often choose not to wrestle with ethical ideals. In the same way, most forgeborn are not prone to align themselves to a particular religion. Some have found a kind of answer to the questions of their existence by taking up the cause of one religion or another, but these remain a small (if very vocal) minority amongst their kind. They often see Rava, the goddess of invention, as a sort of mother figure due to their mechanical nature. Adventurers Adventuring is one way that forgeborn can fit into the world - as well as any adventurer fits in. In a dark dungeon, your companions won't care whether you were born or made as long as you keep them alive. A fairly large number of forgeborn take up adventuring to escape the confines of a society they didn't create and at the same time engage in a meaningful activity. Game Rule Information *'+2 to one ability score. '''Forgeborn can increase one ability score by 2 to represent the various types of forgeborn that exist. *'Medium-size''' As medium creatures, forgeborn do not receive any bonuses or penalties based on their size. *'Normal Speed.' A forgeborn's base land speed is 30 ft. *'Living Construct Subtype. ' -A forgeborn derives its hit dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws and skill points from the class it selects. -Unlike other constructs, forgeborn have a constitution score and do not have low-light vision or dark vision. -Unlike other constructs, forgeborn are not immune to mind affecting spells and abilites. -Forgeborn are immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition and energy drain. -A forgeborn cannot heal naturally. -Unlike other constructs, forgeborn are not immune to non-lethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, death effects and necromancy. -As living constructs, forgeborn can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as those that target constructs. Forgeborn can be healed by the Cure light wounds and Repair light damage spells however, they are vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, supernatural abilities that restore hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect. -A forgeborn takes damage from heat metal, chill metal, repel wood, rusting grasp and Repel metal and Stone ''as if it were wearing metal armour. -Strenuous activity does not risk further injury to a forgeborn that has dropped to 0 hit points. -A forgeborn can be raised or resurrected. -Forgeborn do not need to eat, sleep or breathe but can still benefit from consumable items. Although forgeborn do not need to sleep, they must still rest for 8 hours to regain their spell points. -Forgeborn also receive a +2 armor bonus but cannot wear robes or armor. A forgeborn can be enchanted. *'Modified Chassis A forgeborn may choose one of the two feats at character creation. This is not a bonus feat. It must be chosen at creation and cannot be chosen afterwards. Once chosen, it cannot be changed. Only one of the two feats may be chosen. '''Adamantine Body You are fitted with plates made of the strongest steel. It grants you extra protection, but you move more slowly than normal. Prerequisites: Forgeborn, 1st level only Benefit: AC increased by +8 and you gain DR 2/Adamantine. However, your base speed is decreased to +20 feet. '''Mithral Body '''Your chassis is made of mithral, a very light but very strong metal. It grants great protection without sacrificing movement speed. Prerequisites: Forgeborn, 1st level only Benefit: AC increased by +5 DISCLAIMER: Forgeborn are a homebrew race derived from the warforged. Warforged, Eberron, and all related names, images, and likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast.